Hhhhh

Henry Hills’s Hhhh juxtaposes and overlays multiple senses of the letter H to create a collage structured on a linguistic trope. Lacan famously said the unconscious is structured like language. In Hhhh Hills makes this literal: every shot has an association with H or with the initials for his name. This is the rationale for a Heinrich Heine poem and for a stunning multiplex revamping of a half-dozen Harpo Marx clips interspersed with images of Jean Harlow. Follow along with Hamburger Helper, the H bomb, Hell’s Angels, high heels, Horn & Hardart, and Houdini. It is also the basis for the wild sound collage of Handel, Haydn, “Heartbreak Hotel” and dozens more.

—Charles Bernstein